Hall of Fame Daily – Alan Comer
KK returns to take a look at five of the Hall of Fame nominees that deserve a little more press. Today he starts with the mad brit that makes your MODO run better, Alan Comer.
Thoughts About Magic
Today KK shares what he’s been thinking about the Magic world at large, Grand Prix: Detroit, and the concept of banning Umezawa’s Jitte. In Limited.
Kartin’ Ken vs. Betrayers Sealed
I love this Limited format. It is so incredible because there are so many interesting interactions in the format. There are interactions you can easily see (Tallowisp plus Cage of Hands) and ones that you need to see in the game to really grasp (Earthshaker plus Guardian of Solitude). These types of synergies are what the format is all about, and what I’m going to try and help you come to grips with over the next couple of weeks to give you a leg up on the PTQ season.
Deconstructing U/W in Betrayers Limited Part 2 – The Betrayers Pick Order
When Ken messaged me last week to tell me he thought he had written one of his best Limited articles ever, I was skeptical. He’s been semi-retired for some time, so I didn’t know what to expect. Friday’s article proved his case however, and part 2 just continues it by delivering the complete common-through-rares pick order for Betrayers in this powerful archetype.
Deconstructing U/W in Betrayers Limited Part 1
Throughout time two draft archetypes have risen above the rest in terms of power and consistency. Those are mono-Black and Blue/White. If you default to one of these archetypes without knowing exactly what is in the set, you can’t go too wrong. Sure it may cause you to pick a Harsh Deceiver earlier than it should be picked, but by following the guidelines of sets past, you should be able to draft a competitive deck. In this article I am going to discuss the drafting of Blue/White in Champions/Champions/Betrayers (CCB)from the commons right up to the rares, with a pick order for every card on the list.
Exploding the Myths of Team Limited
Ken uses his team’s Day 2 appearance at Grand Prix: Chicago as a platform to take a look at the Team Limited format and figure out what parts of the common wisdom are true, and which bits are myth. For exmaple: If you are trying to win a Team PTQ, your energies are much better spent practicing Team Sealed than they are Team Rochester. Always controversial, often insightful, KK brought his A Game with this one.
Dynamic Pick Orders in Champions of Kamigawa
The concept before us today is one that has been mentioned several times, but to my knowledge has never been addressed in any kind of in-depth fashion. This concept is dynamic pick orders. Today I’m going to detail my pick orders for the set and then discuss how they change based on what cards are already in your pile.
Lessons from Grand Prix: Austin
I have to admit I had high hopes coming into this GP. Not only did I feel I had a virtual stranglehold on the draft format, but it would have been poetically great. You see, I only had one really good year in Magic. That year began with GP: Houston. I figured, what better place for a comeback than the state where it all began? What I failed to realize was that my skills aren’t what they once were, and there was a day of sealed before the draft. Regardless, there was a lot to be learned from my heartbreak that weekend, and hopefully the wisdom I gained will help the rest of you become better Limited players.
Looking Under the Hood: Examining the Mechanics of Champions
If I have said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: Please wait to review sets. It is nice to get first impressions – they can help to guide us. The problem comes when people start reviewing entire sets the day after the prerelease, when 99 times out of 100 they have no clue what they are talking about and just want to be the first person to say that X card is good. I think in the early stages it is much more useful to analyze a set on a macro level. Therefore, I am going to look at each mechanic, theme and thread in Champions of Kamigawa and how they pertain to both Limited and Constructed.
Ken’s Reflection
Magic players don’t reflect enough. I constantly see players crying to high heaven that they were mana screwed right out of a game/match/tournament. Rarely do these players take a moment to re-examine the game and determine if they may have missed out on a road to victory. The second the first card of a new set appears on mtgnews.com, everyone looks forward to the new set. They don’t take time to learn lessons from the current set and see how they may be able to apply these lessons to future tournaments. Today I’m going to look back at what we learned from Mirrodin Limited and exmaine the lessons you should hang on to.
My Top Ten Mistakes from Mirrodin Block Limited
We all make mistakes – some of us are just better at admitting them. Therefore, I bring you the top 10 mistakes made by Kartin’ Ken Krouner during Mirrodin Block Limited.
Metagames
Preparing for a Limited format is easy. The reason it is so easy is that, by and large, players find drafting more fun than Constructed. The more players you have enjoying the times, the more enjoyable the times will be. Testing Constructed always felt like work to me. While draft felt like a honing of skills, Constructed testing felt more like mapping. So what are the Constructed players mapping? Matchups. But there is more to Constructed than matchups. Think of decks as areas of a continent. Matchups are the paths between them. What I want to talk about today is the entire landscape.
Ask Ken, 08/27/2004
I just lost an 8-4 draft in game three of round 2 on Magic Online and I’m trying to decide if I made the correct play and just lost, or made an error, and wanted to get your view.